Mariners five-game winning streak ends, fall to Rangers, 3-0

SEATTLE It’s the type of game that ends winning streaks or never allows you to start one of any significance.

The Mariners and a sparse crowd of 18,469 saw their five-game winning streak come to an end on Monday. And any dim hopes of possibly sneaking into the discussion for the second wild-card spot were delivered a kick to the gut.

Seattle wasn’t particularly good in most of the necessary aspects hitting, pitching and baserunning and the result was a forgettable 3-0 loss.

Mariners starter Roenis Elias gave a serviceable if not efficient effort, pitching 5 1/3 innings and allowing two runs on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

But the Mariners mustered little against Rangers starter Yovani Gallardo and the Rangers bullpen. They had seven hits, but were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position while stranding seven runners in the loss. The absence of Nelson Cruz, who is still fighting a strained quad, was noticeable.

Elias cruised through the first five innings but the Rangers broke through in the sixth inning.

A one-out walk to Delino DeShields started the problems. Elias gave up a single to Shin Soo-Choo and hit Prince Fielder with a pitch to load the bases. Former Mariner Adrian Beltre continued to torment his old team, dumping a single into right field to score a pair of runs. Elias allowed a single to Mike Napoli to reload the bases.

Manager Lloyd McClendon called on right-hander Mayckol Guaipe to face the right-handed hitting Elvis Andrus. The move worked with some help from shortstop Ketel Marte. Andrus hit a rocket one-hopper up the middle that seemed like a sure base hit. But Marte made a sliding/lunging grab of the ball, flipped it to Robinson Cano at second base. Cano stepped on the base and fired to first for the inning-ending double play.

It was the highlight of the game for Seattle.

Texas added a run in the seventh. Guaipe allowed a leadoff single to Rougned Odor. The Rangers sac bunted him into scoring position. The Mariners countered with Rob Rasmussen to face left-handed hitting Will Venable. But Rasmussen managed to throw a pair of wild pitches to move Odor from second to third and later home to make it 3-0.

Seattle had a couple of decent scoring chances against Gallardo, but baserunning mistakes torched the first inning. Marte led off the game with a single and was thrown out at second stealing. The Mariners put runners on first and second with two outs for Seth Smith, but Rangers catcher Bobby Wilson caught Kyle Seager being overly aggressive on his secondary lead at second base. Wilson fired to second and Seager couldn’t get back. The rundown ended the inning and the threat.

With one out in the fifth inning, Brad Miller tripled to left-center to start a possible rally. But with the infield drawn in, he wasn’t able to score on John Hicks’ groundball right at Andrus. Miller stayed hung up in the rundown between third and home to allow Hicks to advance into scoring position. Shawn O’Malley followed with a walk to put runners on first and second. But Marte was rung up on a questionable third strike to end the inning.

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